Chicken Soup. The Berkeley Wellness Letter, January 2009
Chicken Soup. The Berkeley Wellness Letter, January 2009
There’s nothing like chicken soup for a bad cold. Its hot vapors may clear the nasal passages, and any fluid is helpful for cold symptoms. Having a caring relative make the soup might add to the effect. It’s only common sense. But some scientists have sought a more precise explanation.
A few years ago, in a study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, researchers made a traditional Jewish-style chicken soup, using chicken, carrots, onions, sweet potato, turnips, and other vegetables. In the lab they combined samples of the soup with human blood cells and found that the soup inhibited the ability of certain white blood cells to participate in the body’s inflammatory response. They theorized that this anti-inflammatory effect could reduce symptoms such as irritated
airways and mucus production, and suggested that the chicken and vegetables somehow work together.
The recipe is posted online at www.unmc.edu/chickensoup But if it’s too much trouble, and grandma isn’t around, you’ll be glad to know that many commercial soups were found to have a similar effect.